


What We're Capable Of

by StarHelio



Series: FunFreds From the Server [4]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Circus Baby's Pizza World, DID I NEVER FINISH IT???, THIS ENDS SO ABRUPTLY, jdfueoij take it anyway, mentions of shaggy rogers and kesha smh my head, ur buddies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26826919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarHelio/pseuds/StarHelio
Summary: "I've always wondered why people like you willingly travel down here, knowing what we’re capable of."A moment of silence passed between you. You didn’t know how to respond, but he continued before you could.“The point still stands, there’s nothing safe about you coming here every night.”
Series: FunFreds From the Server [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956763
Kudos: 15





	What We're Capable Of

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a little prompt a friend gave me to work with.
> 
> Lowkey turns into crack tho, u can see my descent into madness zstxdycf

You rushed in, keys jingling and clanging against your water bottle as you juggled your bag and keys in your arms. Pausing to balance on one foot, you kicked the door shut lightly with the other. You locked it and resituated your backpack, heading down the dim hall trying to fumble your way towards the room with that rickety old elevator. Traffic had been worse than you anticipated today and you’d had to get gas, if running to the kiosk meant clocking in on time then so be it.  
After clocking in successfully and only a single minute late, you headed towards the elevator. The doors creaking open as the familiar tune played, beckoning you inside. 

Holding your HandUnit tablet, you began your routine. Strolling over to the glass on the left, you hit the button that illuminated the show stage in the Ballora Gallery auditorium. The stage was barren, prompting the usual response from the automated guide. “It looks like Ballora doesn’t feel like dancing. Lets administer a controlled shock.” It droned, but you simply walked closer to the window instead. Firmly knocking your knuckles on the glass, you tapped the agreed upon tune they expected from you. When you had started working here, you used to follow the prompts given to you. But as you later discovered the animatronics here had...more personality than they probably should, you didn’t want to hurt them. So after a night speaking with all of them — as you had become accustomed to over the past few months — you had come up with a little tune together. A knock that was used only between you and them, to let them know when you had arrived or when they needed to climb onto their stages so the automated voice would allow you to proceed with the rest of your duties. It had made you angry that it was commonplace to simply shock them for not staying in the same position in the same location for hours on end. It didn’t seem fair, you knew you certainly couldn’t sit still that long. If it were you behind that glass, you figured you’d at least like a warning or signal of some kind. So that’s what you’d all created. 

After your knock you tried the light again, and sure enough there she was. Ballora spun elegantly on her stage, looking up to you. You smiled and waved to her. The automated system decided her presence was acceptable without requiring a shock and moved on to droning out the next task. Once she was no longer it’s focus, she stopped spinning and extended an arm, waving back at you through the glass. The minireenas around her also waved, jumping up and down excitedly.

“Let’s check on Funtime Foxy.” The HandUnit voice suggested. You walked to the window on the right of the Control Module room, knocking the same tune against it as well. You paused a moment before pressing the light like the voice urged, giving them time to get into the correct spot on their stage. As you hit the light, Funtime Foxy was miming out his programmed performance from her place on the stage. “Good! Everything seems to be running smoothly in Funtime Auditorium!” The voice cheered. You waved to the fox and he was quick to wave back, tail swishing behind them. You laughed, making a heart with your hands through the glass. He seemed to laugh, making a heart back to you from their stage.

You smiled, turning back to your tablet. You usually tried to get all your duties done quickly so you’d have more time to spend with all of them. The quicker you finished, the longer you had to talk and hang out. Though they did help you with your duties sometimes, reaching high places and lifting things you wouldn’t possibly be able to carry yourself. Freddy and Baby were usually the heavy lifters while Ballora and Foxy were sometimes a little too eager to compete to climb to whatever it was you couldn’t reach. You rolled your eyes, smiling as you swiped to the next screen on the tablet. Checking what needed to be down for the night a bolded message was at the top of the list of duties, grabbing your attention.  
Funtime Freddy: Maintenance Required.  
You felt your smile melt away, curiosity as well as a little worry began to gnaw away at your mind. What could have gone wrong? It had been a while since he had any serious issues.  
He said that was because of you but you always denied it. In part, maybe it was. But that was only because you had simply treated them with respect, considered their feelings. You didn’t want to accept credit for something that you felt they already had a right to. It was a basic human right, wasn’t it? A human right.  
You still didn’t quite understand how but it was clear that they weren’t just robots. The way they spoke, the distinct mannerisms they each had, the way their faces somehow seemed to hold a sort of longing at times. It was very natural, human. Just not natural capabilities for robots to have. No matter whether you knew the reason for it or not, it was clear they were more than they seemed. You knew that for a fact. So you would treat them as such.  
You tapped the box with his name, a bright red triangle beside it. That usually indicated an issue that was more serious or needed to be looked into as soon as possible. However, when you hit the drop down for the issue description, it didn’t list anything major. That was odd. When Freddy had a red mark on his name the issue was usually very serious. You shook your head, you didn’t want to remember the last time.  
You figured it would be best to check on him as soon as possible. Weaseling your way through the vent to the left, you headed off to the Breaker Room. As you made your way through Ballora’s gallery, you softly hummed the same tune from before. Letting her know someone was there and that it was only you relaxed her. You began to smile to yourself as you heard a distant voice hum the tune along with you. Making sure to keep your footsteps as silent as you could, you gradually made your way to the door. “Thank you, Ballora.” you whispered softly with a small smile, also acting as the cue that you were about to make a louder noise. The door to the Breaker Room was attached to her gallery and it was very squeaky and tended to close with a bang. You knew she was sensitive to sounds, so you always warned her ahead of time to help ease her. “Of course, dear.” Her soothing voice replied. At that, you finally opened the squeaky Breaker Room door. As soon as the door was open, you cautiously slid inside, scanning the room for any sight of him. You held the door knob down as you eased the door closed, trying to minimize the squeaking and slamming it usually made if you let it simply fall shut. After closing it quietly out of courtesy for Ballora, you began carefully padding your way through the breaker room.  
The fact you couldn’t find Freddy immediately caused your heart to skip a beat for a split second, making you realize your adrenaline was beginning to come into play. Not being able to see or hear Freddy was never a good sign. He was usually incredibly loud and bubbly, you loved talking to him for these reasons. Talking was also something he was very good at, he could talk with you all day. Yet he tended to hardly make a single sound if he didn’t want to. He could be eerily silent when he was focused or after something. A cold chill ran down your spine at the thought that he may be doing that right now. Whatever his intentions were, it was clear he was choosing not to be seen right now.  
You knew he cared about you, as the others did too. However, you had noticed he had some different programming than the others, if it could be simplified to just programming. They all seemed to have a little too much personality than what could be fit into just a series of ones and zeros. If you were to say it was merely the code though, it was clear parts of his were different from the others’. Some of “faults” or “flaws” in his programming —as it had been presented to you— were reminiscent of things some people couldn’t help that other people might define as “faults” or “flaws”. This set him apart at times, and you certainly related to him with that. Because of this, you often turned to each other for comfort and understanding over these “glitches”. You tried to keep his “glitches” in mind as he also did with you. And right now, you were piecing together what he might be doing. Sometimes he pushed you and the others away because of these, but you knew he still cared. You figured if he was being distant intentionally right now, something must be bothering him. So you continued your search for him all over the breaker room, even behind the wall of wires where he hid from time to time. After your thorough searching still yielded you no results, you headed back towards the door with a huff. One of your other robotic friends might be able to fill you in on what had happened today, if anything. You were always reluctant to ask them for help despite how eager they were to help you, but maybe Ballora could help give you some idea of how Freddy might be feeling or where he could be.  
As you approached the door, you realized the light that shone through the cracks seemed different than normal. Your vision was blurry though. ‘I really should invest in some contacts with this kind of work environment..’ you thought to yourself. Squinting, you slowly began to realize the streams of dim, blue light were being disrupted by something. Reaching out, your hand pressed against the hard metal surface. You moved your hand slightly towards where the door handle would be when you froze, something wasn’t right. Your heart dropped as you realized the metal surface your hand was pressed against was rounded slightly. This wasn’t the door. Keeping your palm to the metal, you slowly moved a finger around an edge you’d found. The realization hit you that this felt familiar. It felt like Freddy. You realized you had to be tracing your finger along the pink patch on his tummy. You struggled to stifle a nervous giggle, realizing your hands were beginning to shake. Being directly in front of his stomach, this close, in the dark, was not a safe place to be. You knew this, yet you took a deep, shuddering breath and let it out slowly. “Freddy?” You spoke softly, tilting your face up towards where his must be. You were met with silence. You could hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears. Swallowing thickly you pressed on, “Can you talk to me?”  
A large, metal arm wrapped behind you, pulling you flush against the surface in front of you. Everything in your body was screaming at you to run, you began to breathe quicker, eyes darting around in the dark as if you could see anything anyway. Yet not a second after the arm had pulled you closer you heard a soft, gravelly voice saying something to you. You tried to steady your breathing, “what?”  
“It’s okay, it’s just me.” He croaked softly, sounding almost hoarse. Despite your panic you giggled at the way he’d said that, as if he wasn’t perfectly capable of being the most dangerous thing in the room. Another giggle sounded above you, you knew he was probably giggling only because you were. “Sorry” you breathed, “sorry, I’m okay. I’ll be fine.” The grip around you tightened slightly for just a second, he sighed. “No, I shouldn’t have stayed so quiet. I didn’t mean to scare you.” The last sentence had come out more of a whisper than anything, it had sounded almost like his voice was about to break. If you didn’t know better, you would’ve thought he sounded like he might cry. Your head jerked up, looking to where his eyes must be though you still couldn’t see him in the dark. “Freddy? What’s going on?” You felt him shift slightly before letting out an exaggerated groan as he sank to a sitting position on the floor. Giggling at his dramatics, you went to hit the light switch for the ghastly blue lights in the room before walking back over to where he sat on the floor. “Mind if I sit here?” You asked from beside him. “Be my guest!” he gestured to the open space with one arm, offering his other hand out to you to help you down into a comfortable position on the floor next to him. You took his hand with a laugh, though you slid your back down against the wall until you landed on the floor anyway. He snorted, grinning at you with one brow raised. You shrugged, reaching to poke at him. “Sooo what’s got you all ‘uuugghhh’?” You said, mimicking the way he groaned. He laughed, shoving you gently. “Did I sound just like that?” He laughed. “Yes, you’re very loud”, you feigned seriousness. “Ha! Like you’re one to talk!” He sighed, looking to you for a minute before choosing his next words. “I was just thinking, you know and…” he paused again, staring at the far wall for a moment.

"I've always wondered why people like you willingly travel down here, knowing what we’re capable of." 

A moment of silence passed between you. You didn’t know how to respond, but he continued before you could. “Especially you, you don’t just come down here to check things off and leave. You spend time with us, you actually speak to us. You had the idea for us to come up with our little code song, there’s been next to no controlled shocks for any of us since you came here. You’re just...different. You care!” he beamed at you. You were taken aback, fumbling with your next words. “Aww Freddy! Well, yeah of course I-“  
“Don’t act like it's a normal thing.” He cut you off mid sentence. “You don’t just come here, you come all the way down here. To where we are. You come up to us, check on us, treat us like you’d treat anyone else.” He gestured to your place next to him, “You’re even sitting right beside me for a chat like I couldn’t just kill you at any moment.” He huffed, seeming upset at the fact. You shrugged at him, “I trust that you won’t! I know you care about me too!” You smiled, his eyelids and ears drooped in exasperation.

“The point still stands, there’s nothing safe about you coming here every night.” 

“I know!! That old elevator is gonna cause a lawsuit. Does everyone else use that thing too? I think they put the calming music options in purely as a way to distract from your impending doom of dying in an elevator.” 

He stared at you.

“The cutesy little chime that plays when the doors open is like a little victory song!! ‘Congrats on surviving!!’ But it’s kinda cool! It’s like Tower of Terror but with actual risks and no admission fees!! Really gets the adrenaline pumping!”

He was glaring now. “You know what I’m talking about.” 

“Besides that old elevator? What do I have to worry about?”

“Us.” He hissed, a slight growl seeping into his tone.

“But if you all care about me and we’re friends, why do I need to worry?”

A look of rage crossed over his face for a second, he leaned in close. “You know this is dangerous. You know we are dangerous. You’re a bright girl, don’t play stupid with me.” He leaned his head back against the door, his eyes staring straight ahead in front of him. He was illuminated in the blue lights of the room, light reflecting in odd ways. “Listen, I’m super grateful for all you’ve done. There’s never been anyone else like you here! You’re bright, bubbly, funny, and caring! And you’re right, I do care about you and that’s what got me thinking… maybe coming back here isn’t safe for you. There’s a whole world out there! You don’t have to be stuck down here like us, especially with the risks that come with it.” He looked to you slowly, his eyes seeming dimmer than usual.  
“You want me to leave?...”  
He laughed, shaking his head. “You can do what you want! But you don’t have to do any of this at all!” He fell into a fit of giggles, though when he turned to you his eyes were deadly serious.  
“Why do you do it?”  
He seemed as if he was searching for something and you weren’t sure what it was. What answer did he want to hear?  
“Freddy, of course I know what you’re capable of. I know what the others are capable of too. And yeah, it might not necessarily be the common choice to keep coming back here while knowing all that. I’ve seen your blueprints, and I’ve seen the others’. However, I believe you’re more than that. All of you. If you were simply some killing machine, you wouldn’t be sitting next to me on the floor and having an emotional discussion. Much less be worried about my safety.” You looked to him in a side glance and he looked away with a huff. “I mean, making secret knocks, songs and codes? Having competitions, helping each other, just sitting and talking? That's something you do with friends! Though you guys might not be human, there’s something human about you.”  
He looked to you then, his expression unreadable.  
“So I think of you all that way, as friends! And I’m not losing my friends, I like hanging out with them!” You beamed at him, though he stared back with no expression for a moment. Slowly, he reached a hand out towards you and tapped the tip of your nose gently with one finger. “You’re my friend too”, he said quietly. You giggled, “Aw! I already know that Fred, we’re like besties!!” You reached out, pressing a finger to his nose too, releasing your finger as the nose emitted a loud squeak.  
“You just had to, didn’t you?” He grinned, raising a brow. “Well, it’s not my fault you’ve got a squeaky nose! What do you expect when you’re a clown?” He laughed, “I didn’t pick how I was designed you know!!”  
“Would you change it though?”  
He furrowed his brows and hummed as if in deep thought, cradling his chin in his hand. You rolled your eyes, giggling. “Hmm...no, I think it's fitting!!” He declared loudly.“It definitely is” you laughed. “Oooh!!” He laughed. “Wow! Those are brave words for someone in hugging range...” You gasped, faking a look of dread as you began to scoot back. “Oh no! Please, have mercy! Not the awful bear hug…” He chuckled, grabbing you by the ankle and pulling you back towards where he sat on the floor. “Oh, it’s bear hug time alright” he teased, lifting you up from under your arms. You laughed as he pulled you close, holding you in a gentle hug. For a being made of metal, his hugs were always oddly comforting. You laughed, hugging him back tightly. After a while, you began to giggle. Unable to stop yourself, it caused him to giggle too. “What’s so funny?”  
You tried to stop giggling long enough to focus about three times before succeeding. “It’S bEaR hUg TiMe!!!” You pitched your voice, mimicking him. He immediately burst into a loud fit of laughter. “Do you really say that during working hours??” You managed out between gasps and laughter. He was trying to shake his head, unable to stop laughing long enough to answer. “No? Yes? What is it? Spit it out!!” You reached over, squeaking his nose yet again. He swatted you away with a hand, cackling loudly. “Wow you just give hugs to anyone like that? HeY kIdS, iTs BeAr HuG TiMe!!” You wheezed in between giggles. He looked like he might fall over, unable to contain his laughter. Fits of cackling filled the breaker room for a few more moments before he suddenly turned to face you, his expression unreadable as he said “Um, like, not normallyyy?? Usually I just like, try to perfooorm for them I guess?? And they just kinda do whatever they want, yanno?” In the most over dramatic, valley girl accent you’d ever heard. You gasped in disbelief before clutching your sides as another bout of laughter hit you. You were beginning to get a cramp and your eyes were tearing up. “I don’t sound like that!!!” You shouted, unable to keep a stern face.  
A somber expression swept across his features, his ears lowered as he nodded slowly. “I’m sorry no one has ever told you this, but you talk just like Shaggy Rogers.” You gasped and punched his shoulder, “SHUT UP!!!” He cackled, holding you away from him as you tried to shove him. “Shaggy Rogers?!” You wheezed. “Maybe even Kesha, yes. Have you heard your customer service voice? It’s horrendous.” He said feigning disappointment as he shook his head slowly.


End file.
